The present invention relates generally to accessories for pop-up toasters, and more particularly to a new and improved accessory carrier for toasting various breads and pastries.
Several problems typically arise when a conventional pop-up toaster is used for toasting bread, muffins, pastries or other similar food articles. One of these problems is that the article being toasted often gets stuck to the heating elements of the toaster and as a result is wedged within one of the toaster slots. This necessitates the insertion of a knife or other elongated object in order to withdraw the toast from the toaster, and this in turn results in an increased possibility of electrical shock to the user and damage to the fragile heating elements. Alternatively, an article of food to be toasted can be removed from a toaster by a consumber by hand. This is also unsatisfactory, as burns, scrapes and cuts often result therefrom. A second major problem with the use of pop-up toasters which results from the contact between the foodstuff and the heating elements is that the food is often burnt and becomes crusty. It is extremely difficult to prevent an article which is being toasted from coming into contact with the heating elements and as a result it will often be inedible after toasting.
Several attempts have been made in the past to overcome the aforementioned problems in conjunction with a pop-up toaster. O'Connor, U.S. Pat. No. 3,511,170, discloses a frame-like toaster accessory designed to broil meat within a toaster. This device, however, requires a bulky frame element which, when a piece of meat is placed within the sections 15 which comprise the frame, surrounds a food article on all six sides. O'Connor's device does not include a handle element comprised from parts of both sections of the frame, but rather only a single knob located at the center of one of the two frame sections. Further, the wires or pins 17 mounted within the frame are entirely straight and lack any features which would enable the pins to retain a tubular hinge therein.
Cole, U.S. Pat. No. 3,094,061, discloses another device which is primarily used for holding meat during a broiling operation. This device is difficult to manipulate, as the handle portions 33 and 34 are positioned outwardly from one side of the main food holding portions. Such a handle arrangement makes it difficult to withdraw and insert the broiler grid with an article to be toasted while at the same time maintaining the grid in its upright position. In addition, the placement of the handles outwardly from the grid results in the top of the grid being open, which necessitates great care when a food to be toasted is removed from the pop-up toaster.
The devices of Bork, as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,849,947, 2,962,957 and 3,046,870, are difficult to use and expensive to produce. In the accessory of U.S. Pat. No. 2,962,957, a basket for toasting bread is made in the form of a frame with one foraminous side wall, but it does not comprise a plurality of hinged sections which enable easy access to the food being toasted. In the other two holders disclosed by Bork, access to the food being toasted is limited by the fact that the holder consists of a frame surrounding the bread on all six sides, and can only be achieved when the two sections comprising the holder are separated. Both of these devices also include handle structures which do not facilitate removal and insertion of the article to be toasted within a pop-up toaster.
Jalbert, U.S. Pat. No. 3,308,748, discloses a toasting apparatus formed completely of wire which is designed to carry frankfurter buns and is accordingly of an irregular configuration. This apparatus is designed to shape a piece of bread into a desired form as a hot dog bun before and during toasting. It is incapable of retaining a flat article of food to be toasted, such as a muffin or a slice of bread, and prevents withdrawal of the article being toasted while the two sections of the apparatus are cradled within one another.
Barnett, U.S. Pat. No. 3,140,651, discloses a foraminous grill for use with a charcoal cooker. Grill 21 is comprised of a series of interconnected wires, but has only one handle 23 and is not formed of two hingedly connected sections which provide easy access to the article of food being toasted as the sections are designed to retain the food by pressure. The device of Dooley, U.S. Pat. No. 2,604,032, is a combination tray and door for a side opening toaster. Base 39, while sufficient to support a slice of bread in such a toaster, would be capable of holding the same when it is withdrawn from a pop-up toaster. This is due to the fact that no frame structure is provided in Dooley's tray which could surround an article of food to be toasted on four sides thereof.
Finally, Gomersall, U.S. Pat. No. 2,285,156, discloses bread carriers 53 located between heating elements 31, but these carriers are not designed as separate attachments to retain food articles being toasted, and they lack handles which would facilitate removal and insertion of such articles.
It is clear that none of these prior art devices simply and inexpensively overcome all of the problems posed by pop-up toasters. All of these devices have either complex handle mechanisms, bulky and/or relatively expensive frames and supports or are configured in such fashion as to prevent easy insertion and withdrawal of the device from a pop-up toaster. Additionally, none of the disclosed devices includes frame structure which would enable an article being toasted to be removed from the device without undue manipulation of the frame and handles.